There’s no shortage of reasons to thrift home decor. In addition to being more sustainable, shopping secondhand is typically more cost-effective than shopping new.
23.06.2024 - 18:29 / gardenerspath.com / Kristine Lofgren
19 of the Best Prickly Pear (Opuntia) Varieties
Picture a prickly pear cactus, and what do you see? I bet the plant you envision has green flat pads, some spikes growing out of small lumps, and is probably a few feet tall and wide.
Sure, that describes one type, but the world of cacti in the Opuntia genus is so much more broad and varied!
Apart from the standard edible species, there are some species that grow low like ground covers, and others that tower 15 feet tall or more.
Some have green pads but you’ll also find species with pads in cream, pink, purple, gray, and blue. There are even variegated options! And we haven’t even touched on the flowers yet.
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There are dozens of Opuntia species native to the United States and around 200 throughout the world.
If you have a dry patch in your garden with plenty of sun, there’s an Opuntia species that will suit your needs.
In our guide to growing prickly pear cactus, we discuss how to cultivate these desert species in your landscape. In this article, we’ll take a look at 19 of the best Opuntia varieties for your garden.
Here’s the lineup:
Best Opuntia VarietiesBefore we chat about the best of the best, we should clarify a few terms. The big, roundish parts of the plant are known as “pads,” but they are technically called cladodes.
Cladodes are flattened stems rather than true leaves – feel free to use that info at your next trivia party!
Prickly pears can have both spines and glochids. Spines are the long, spiky bits that many of us accidentally discover when we step on or brush up against them.
Glochids are small bristle-like growths, often with fish hook-like
There’s no shortage of reasons to thrift home decor. In addition to being more sustainable, shopping secondhand is typically more cost-effective than shopping new.
A wormery is a great way of recycling kitchen and small amounts of garden waste, using worms to turn this material into nutrient-rich natural compost. A sump within the wormery also holds any excess liquid produced during this process and this can be used to feed your plants too. Simply drain it with the tap, every few days, dilute it to a 1:10 ratio of water and you have a nitrogen-heavy liquid feed ready to use. Wormery composting worms are different species to the earthworms you see in your garden, which aren’t suitable, and are known as brandlings, red, manure or tiger worms. They live inside the waste in the wormery bin and thanks to big appetites and a fast metabolism, quickly break down food waste likeegg shells, vegetable peelings and tea bags and turn them into compost for your garden. For help getting started our helpful step-by-step guide explains how to set up a wormery
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If a cup of coffee (or several!) are part of your morning or afternoon routine, it's likely that you've tossed a lot of grounds. Coffee grounds are actually full of organic matter and are wonderful to add to the compost pile to create a nutrient-rich amendment. There have been some misconceptions about used coffee grounds and whether it's a good idea to add them directly to your soil, and your houseplants.
You can’t even begin to garden without the proper preparation of your soil. Well-maintained, aerated soil is necessary for your plants to be as strong and as healthy as possible. However, this is often quite a daunting task, requiring soil to be rejuvenated through loosening and turning over. Forks make this easy – they’re one of the simplest but most effective tools in the garden. Not only are they great for cultivating and getting areas of soil ready for planting & sowing, they’re also designed to easily lift and transplant plants. There are several different types of forks, and most people’s go-to is a digging fork. However, these forks can be unwieldy, and ill suited to smaller areas of the garden like borders. They can also be a little too clumsy for more delicate tasks like transplanting plants and harvesting from raised beds. Border forks offer an easy alternative. A little smaller and narrower than digging forks, they’re great for getting into tight spots without compromising on strength or efficiency. They offer a finesse that makes them great for weeding, or lifting clumps of perennials from cramped borders. Their lightness also helps if you have mobility issues, or if you lack strength and stamina. A good border fork turns all of the above from a backbreaker into a breeze. It should be indispensable; a lifetime companion in the garden.
Gardening is not just a hobby, it is a way of life that allows us to get closer to nature. In our country, only 50 no deposit free spins in casinos can compete in terms of popularity with gardening, which has a special place in the hearts of millions of people. The history of British gardening goes back centuries, and this activity continues to attract more and more enthusiasts. In this article, we take a look at the best garden centres in the UK that offer a wide range of plants and gardening products, high quality service and many additional services. Whatever your preferences and level of expertise, you are sure to find something useful and interesting for you.
From novices to experts, all gardeners need a trusty spade and they’re often the first tool that gardeners will buy when starting out. These staples of the shed are invaluable and can help with dozens of jobs around the garden. Digging spades are the most common style of spade and are the go-to spade for beginners but there are also several other styles and models of spades, which are designed with particular jobs in mind.
IT’S ONE of the best-known naturalistic gardens anywhere, and yet it’s perched in the most unnatural spot imaginable, 30 feet high above New York City traffic on an abandoned elevated railway line. The High Line on Manhattan’s West Side is celebrating the 15th anniversary of the opening of its first section, years that have been filled with expert lessons on gardening in this looser, nature-inspired style.
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Raised garden beds are an excellent choice for gardeners looking to enhance their growing space. The best raised garden beds offer benefits, such as improved soil conditions, better pest control, and easier maintenance. Our expertise at Savvy Gardening stems from years of hands-on gardening in raised beds and thorough research, ensuring that our recommendations are practical and reliable. We’ve narrowed our favorites to a list of six. We meticulously evaluated various factors, including durability, material quality,